


The Eyes Have It

by dralexreid



Series: Dr Piper Bishop [39]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27071194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dralexreid/pseuds/dralexreid
Relationships: Dr Spencer Reid/Dr Piper Bishop
Series: Dr Piper Bishop [39]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972852
Kudos: 16





	The Eyes Have It

Piper walked into the bullpen later than usual, two cups of coffee held in her hand. Her eyes took notice of three things. The first was Anderson trying to balance a mug on his forehead which she couldn’t judge. His job was mostly paperwork, no doubt he got bored. The second was Derek chatting with Erin Strauss. As in the superintendent Erin Strauss. Their boss’s boss. Grandboss, if you will. The third was most of the team gathered around Emily’s desk staring at Derek and Strauss. She walked over to the other end of the bullpen, dumping her bag near her desk before rolling her chair over to the girls and Spencer. “What’s happening?”

“Some moron posted a blog called ‘What Would Carl Sagan Do?’.” Spencer snickered.

“Spence, I love you but uh… I was talking about Morgan and Strauss,” she said, passing him his coffee.

“Wait. You haven’t heard?” Garcia raised her eyebrows and Piper narrowed her eyes, tilting her head at her.

“Are you gonna tell me or not?”

“Hotch is stepping down as Unit Chief. He’s been getting heat from Strauss.”

“Stress from Strauss?” Piper tried to stop herself snickering and Emily whacked her arm. “Sorry, not the time, I know. But why?”

“The bureau thinks that his ability to lead the team has been compromised ever since Foyet,” Spencer explained from behind her and she nodded.

“That makes sense.”

“It does?” Garcia scoffed.

“Well, yeah.” Piper shrugged. “Last week, he practically launched himself unarmed _and_ unprotected into a hostage negotiation. Our last case, he walked away from a suicide by cop incident. Strauss’s doubt makes sense. I’m not saying Hotch shouldn’t be Unit Chief but…”

“No, I get it,” Emily sighed as she wrung her hands. “Foyet’s distracting him.”

“So, why’s Morgan with Strauss? Oh nooo….” Realisation dawned on Piper as she groaned, leaning on her elbows. “He’s acting Unit Chief, isn’t he?” Spencer rubbed her shoulder. “He’s never gonna let this go.”

“Also, rumour has it, he went to see Tamara Barnes again this morning. For coffee,” Garcia whispered.

“Penelope’s over-exaggerating,” JJ laughed. “She asked him to go to the preliminary hearing with her, that’s all.”

Emily just sighed. “So, we’re just supposed to move forward without any discussion?”

“After Foyet, I think we have to be ready for anything,” Spencer remarked, looking up at Hotch’s cabin.

“I just hope he doesn’t make me call him ‘sir’,” Piper sighed, putting her face in her hands. “He’s gonna be insufferable after this.” Her head bobbed up as Morgan yelled for them to get Rossi.

“This is Megan Chertow and her friend Beena Sukarto, both 17, found 2 nights ago in a parking garage, carotids severed. This is John O'Heron, 61,” JJ briefed. “He was found dead in a wooded area 4 days ago, blunt force trauma to the head.”

“Different MO and completely different victimology,” Rossi remarked. “How are the cases linked?”

“Their eyes have been removed,” JJ tried to say casually, her mouth drawing into a line as she took her seat.

“Oh, he’s an enucleator,” Spencer beamed.

“You are way too excited about this,” Piper murmured to her boyfriend.

“Wait, there’s a term for this?” JJ asked, clearly disgusted now.

“It’s a rare subset of criminal behaviour, but there have been case studies of assaultive enucleators,” Hotch explained.

“The overwhelming majority of them suffer from diagnosed mental disorders,” Emily elaborated.

“And they’re usually males, lack social skills, their kills are disorganized and sloppy,” Spencer added. “The typical enucleator gouges the eyes out, but he doesn’t normally take them with him.”

“We need to figure out why,” Derek said, looking to Piper. “You got anything on eyes?”

“Well, typically eyes have been seen as the windows to the soul,” Piper recalled, gesturing with her pen. “In TS Eliot’s The Hollow Men, he says they have no eyes, but he really means the soul. The earliest reference to enucleation would probably be Oedipus who gouges out his own eyes because um… he sleeps with his mother and it’s a whole thing. I think in Dante’s Inferno he talks about judgement using ocular imag-"

“The point?”

“Well, three points, really. One is soul, the other is guilt and the last is judgement.” Piper nodded emphatically.

“You think this guy feels guilty?”

“I’d say in this case it’s more that he feels judged. These enucleators are generally paranoid and that could have been the trigger.”

“There are noticeable shifts from the first to the second murder,” Rossi pointed out. “He goes from killing in seclusion to a public place.”

“And he escalated from one victim to two,” Emily added.

“What concerns me most is there are less than 48 hours between the murders,” Derek explained. “That’s why I chose this case.”

“And from what we know about enucleators,” Hotch added. “They’re almost always multiple repeat offenders.”

“Exactly. Which means he’s going to need to kill again soon. All right. Let’s meet on the plane in 30.” Piper watched the others leave before making sure Spencer got up okay.

“Is it always gonna be this awkward?”

“God, I hope not. Derek hasn’t bullied me once all day. I never thought I would miss it.” Piper pouted as she helped Spencer down the stairs. “Are you sure you wanna come along?”

“Yeah, I’m not staying cooped up with Garcia all day.”

“Hey, I didn’t want you there either,” Penelope retorted from Emily’s desk. “Also, cookies,” she thrust out a box for Spencer. “I felt bad for not giving you any the other day. But do not expect more.” Piper laughed as she grabbed her and Spencer’s go-bags.

“You know, the last thing we need is Morgan turning into Hotch,” Emily grinned. “Another grim-faced robot. I don’t think I could handle it.” Piper laughed and the three agents got into the elevator.

On the jet, Spencer spread his leg out carefully along the width of the plane while Piper perched on the table next to him. “The colours of all the victims’ eyes are different,” Emily pointed out. “So, that probably doesn’t factor into victimology.”

“It’s more likely what he sees in the eyes,” Spencer explained. “Case studies show that most enucleators suffer from delusions. They hear voices and see things in people’s eyes.”

“Usually something evil. They’re driven to enucleate to destroy the devil. It points to someone who may have been institutionalized and recently released. I can help Garcia start looking,” Piper offered.

“All right, so talk to me,” Derek directed. “What makes these attacks so different?”

“With victim one, there were multiple blunt force strikes to the head— A more personal kill,” Rossi answered.

“And he disposed of the body, maybe as a forensic countermeasure,” Hotch added.

“The next murders seemed less personal, more opportunistic,” Emily finished.

“I think we need to look at why the first victim was bludgeoned and dumped.” Derek sighed deeply.

“Perhaps the unsub knew him,” Spencer theorised. “It’s possible he said or did something.”

“Prentiss, I want you to go to the disposal site, see if you can figure out why he was dumped there. Rossi, you and I are gonna go to last night’s crime scene—”

“Actually, uh, the girls’ families asked to speak to our team leader,” JJ interrupted.

“All right. um… Okay, in that case, Rossi, you can handle the crime scene solo. JJ, you’re with me, and, Hotch, Reid, I want you to get into John O'Heron’s life, See if anything at all points to a personal motive. Piper, help Garcia narrow down mental institution records.” They nodded and Spencer moved over to the couch to spread his leg out as Piper went to make a cup of coffee. “Hey, Bishop.” She looked over at Derek, a little tense.

“Coffee?”

“No, I’m good. Um… listen, about you and Reid.” Piper looked up. “I know Hotch may not have had a problem with it, but uhh…” Derek was unsure about how to phrase his next directives. The last thing he wanted to do was break them up, but he couldn’t risk the team dynamic becoming tattered.

“Derek, what are you saying?” Piper swirled a spoon of sugar into her cup.

“I’m just worried that if the two of you have a… an issue within your personal relationships…”

“Der, you’re like a brother to me, you know that. If we have an issue, we’ll sort it out.” Derek nodded, breathing in deeply. “Is everything okay?” Piper placed a hand on his shoulder gently, but he pushed her away. She sighed as he moved to resume his seat and she followed, worried about Derek’s new responsibilities.

^-^

Spencer, Piper and Hotch filed into the precinct and Hotch shook hands with Detective Bartley. Piper smiled and took a seat opposite Spencer before she turned her laptop on to find Garcia. “ _So, I started to look up recently released mental health patients who have a history of eye-gouging, eye assault, and other gross things you can do to eyes and sockets. And there’s no bingo for Okie City residents.”_ Garcia tapped her pen against her forehead.

“Well, I suppose that’s sort of a good thing. I can’t believe he started out with eyes though. Try history of animal cruelty.”

_“Gold star to you doctor. I’ve got 7.”_

“Narrow them down to eyes.”

 _“Oh. They’re all gone, sweet-cheeks. Sorry,”_ Penelope pouted.

“That’s okay,” Piper said, rubbing her hands. “We’ll get back to you soon.”

 _“10-4 breaker! breaker!”_ Piper narrowed her eyebrows as Garcia blipped away, looking up at Spencer as she mouthed Garcia’s last words.

“What’d you get?”

“Nothing yet. What about you guys?”

“Both murders were 22 miles apart which is unusual since serial killers usually have a smaller kill zone,” Spencer replied.

“What I don’t get is what he’s doing with them. What do you do with eyes?”

“Maybe keeping them as trophies,” Hotch suggested from his position near the murder board.

“They wouldn’t keep long as trophies,” Spencer gestured with his hands. “Eyes are 80% vitreous humour, which is essentially water. After a few hours, they begin to get cloudy and wilt.”

“Any other theories?”

“There have been cases where after enucleation, mental patients have consumed the eyeballs.” Piper almost retched. “Sorry.” She waved him off.

“Nope, it’s fine. I just really hope he isn’t; you know. But if these eyeballs don’t last long, won’t he try and replace them?”

“He will. Unless he knows how to preserve them,” Spencer said. Piper frowned as Spencer gazed mournfully at the victims. Hotch tossed Piper a marker and she got up, the notion of eye consumption far from her mind.

“So, O'Heron’s friends say he has a history of drunken behaviour,” Hotch surmised from his file. “But they don’t know anybody with a grudge against him.”

“He was last seen leaving a bar,” Spencer read. “Bartender on duty said he left without incident.”

“We should get Garcia to look at his financial records,” she suggested. “It’s possible he did something earlier in the day where he met our unsub.” She looked over as Emily and Rossi entered the room. Emily told them about the remote farm road where O'Heron was dumped, telling them that the unsub didn’t just stumble on it, he knew the area well. Hotch told her to make a list of people who live or work near the area before turning to Rossi. Piper and Spencer listened to the senior agent’s theory of their unsub’s patience and organisation. What worried them most of all was his lack of cooling-off period between kills. Meanwhile, Derek and JJ entered looking troubled before directing Spencer and Piper to see the medical examiner. Piper nodded, sighing at having to drive an SUV as she caught the keys Emily threw her.

“Hey, does this mean I can borr—”

“Absolutely not.”

Spencer sat perched on a medical table adjacent to the victim as Piper stood in front of O’Heron. The M.E. pointed out the way the eyes had been ripped out with the optic nerves protruding, but Spencer knotted his eyebrows at the precise cuts made with the other two female victims. They returned to the SUV, Piper watching carefully as Spencer got in. They talked about the case for a while and eventually fell into a comfortable silence at the traffic lights. They’d been dating for a few weeks, but she still couldn’t believe it, especially when he started rubbing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. She smiled and the light turned green and the moment was over. Piper started chewing on her lip as she started driving again. She was lucky to have him.

Spencer knew how nervous Piper got around cars. It wasn’t as though she wasn’t a great driver, but she was a free, interminable spirit, unrestrained by anything but her own will. So, cars weren’t a good fit. A few weeks ago, he’d have been afraid to ask her to go out for coffee, but now, he could ask her to do anything. She was happy to do anything, as long as it involved him. But with his leg in his current state, they were having trouble finding dates. She never minded though, always up for anything. They’d watched her entire French film collection, gone on midnight strolls, even just gone on bookstore dates. They’d compete to find the worst scenes in the romance novels. Each time they make the other laugh, they get a point, the loser having to buy dinner. She’d ended up buying dinner after the carousel scene in The Notebook. He was lucky to have her.

Slowly, Piper pulled up to the precinct, sighing in relief as she parked, and her body leant against the still car before pulling out the keys and clambering out. While Spencer tried getting out slowly, Piper rushed over with his crutches. They made their way inside, updating the team on their findings. “He managed to avoid cutting the sockets or the eyelids. This was precise work. The kind of work only a doctor could do,” Spencer summed up.

“He was crude with the first victim, surgical with the others. The amount of effort he’s going through to remove the eyes now, he wouldn’t destroy them. He’s keeping them,” Piper nodded. “But there’s one good news in all of this, if you can call it that,” Piper scoffed.

“What’s that?” Hotch looked up from his file at Emily’s question.

“At least he isn’t eating them.” Emily snorted quietly and Derek told them all to get some sleep.

Spencer was still looking over the file in Piper’s room as she took off her jacket. “You know, Derek told us to get some sleep,” she said, sliding into bed with her copy of Wuthering Heights.

“I don’t mind getting a dog,” he murmured, “but who’d look after it?” Piper knotted her eyebrows as he compared the two pictures of bodies.

“What kind of dog?”

“I guess so,” Spencer muttered as she rummaged through papers. “But I prefer Richard the Third’s monologue. More…sinister.” Piper sighed, putting the book away. She got up, moving over to him seated at the table. Piper slid her arms around his neck, nuzzling his ear. She huffed at his complete ignorance of her. She brushed her lips against his ear, trailing kisses along his jawline. “Pipes…”

“Bed,” she whispered between kisses. He turned his head up to her, meeting her lips fully. His hand travelled to cup her face as his lips moved against her. Strands of hair tangled between his knuckles as she leaned in deeper. They broke away for air and Piper grinned. “You gonna stop working now?”

“Well, I’m not sure I can focus on missing eyes after that.” Piper beamed before announcing she was going to take a shower so he could change, emphasising the need to sleep. He sighed as he watched her disappear inside the bathroom, trudging over to the bed. A gentle smile played on Piper’s lips as she came back out of the bathroom at the sight of Spencer softly snoring in bed. Piper flicked the lights off as she climbed into bed next to him.

He woke to sunlight streaming from the window, noticing a small weight on his torso. He glanced to the angel snoring softly beside him, an arm lay gently on his chest. Spencer kissed her cheek softly before getting up to pull on his brace. Piper got up slowly a few minutes after, rubbing her eyes at the blinds Spencer pulled apart. Blinking blearily, she trudged over to the bathroom, brushing her teeth while changing at the same time. She left the door open while she walked out, beaming as Spencer managed to limp over without his crutches. “You’re getting better.”

“Yeah, my PT’s gonna love me after this case.”

“How could he not?” Piper kissed him on the cheek, then moved over to pack the files into a box while Spencer went to get ready when Emily burst into her room.

“There’s another murder.”

* * *

The team gathered around the precinct, discussing the latest murder. Tracy Copper died the furthest away from the other crime scenes. She was 32 and an avid jogger, according to her husband. The woman had died from a single knife wound to the neck; a cold and efficient kill. She watched Derek, Emily and Hotch leave for the crime scene and JJ pulled up Garcia on the monitor. “So, Garcia, we have the list of local doctors, but we need to narrow it down.”

_“Where shall I splice, my pretties?”_

“Give me a list of all doctors who’ve had infractions like malpractice suits,” Spencer asked from his seat next to Piper.

_“Got it. Bouncing your way.”_

“Narrow it down to eye specialists,” Piper called out.

_“Whoo, that’s still a lot of names.”_

“We’ll chip away when we know more,” he explained.

_“Hey, wait. Before you hang up, how’s my Morgan doing?”_

“Fine,” he shrugged.

_“I know the man is fine. How’s he holding up as head honcho?”_

“Well, he’s stressed, but he’s on top of it,” JJ answered. “Speaking of which, there is something you could do for him.” Piper grinned ear to ear as JJ detailed her plan for Derek when they got back, but her cell buzzed and she sliced her hand along her throat, showing her Derek’s caller ID.

“Hey, Der. What you got?”

_“He laid a trap for her. All this, plus the way he bleeds her at the neck. It’s the behaviour of a game hunter.”_

“Jesus,” Piper sighed, rubbing a hand along her face while Spencer squeezed her shoulder.

“Hunting’s a big part of this city’s culture,” JJ pointed out.

“Yeah, hunting animals is,” Piper breathed. “What triggered him to start hunting humans?”

_“This guy is taking people’s eyes, so, he’s definitely disturbed. What bugs me is that people like this usually unravel, get sloppy. And this guy’s only getting better.”_

“Okay. Let us know if there’s anything else.”

“Wait, Morgan!” JJ called out before Piper could end the call. “I’m fielding calls left and right here.”

_“What’s happening?”_

“The case made national news. They’re starting to call him the Eye Snatcher.”

_“All right, um, you’re gonna hold a small, controlled press conference. Answer their questions but try to squash that name. I want the people to be aware, but I do not want to make a bogeyman out of this guy. Anything else?”_

“You’re not answering Strauss’ calls.”

 _“She’s just trying to keep tabs. She can wait_.” JJ’s face seemed crushed when Piper hung up the call.

Back in the woods, Aaron watched Derek hang up and return to the crime scene, ready to get back. “Maybe you should take the time to field the call,” Hotch advised softly. Strauss wasn’t an enemy any first-time unit chief should have. Erin had her own battles and tended to take it out on the unit chiefs below her. Yes, Derek was performing admirably, but even the slightest mistake leads to mountains of inspection from the higher-ups. Morgan didn’t know how to deal with that yet. That being said, Derek’s answer was every bit as expected, polished and professional.

“Hotch, we have to set up a tip line. We have to go over JJ’s talking points. We haven’t gotten the profile out yet. All of that takes priority over dealing with Strauss.”

“I understand all that.” Hotch kept his voice smooth and placating as they walked through the greenery. “Let us help you set up a strategy while you talk to her. We’ll regroup with you before we proceed. We have enough battles. Believe me, you don’t want to fight her, too.”

“Let me get this profile out, and then I’ll go talk to Strauss.” Aaron almost scoffed as Morgan walked off. Bargaining. Derek reminded him of himself when he’d started out with this unit. He couldn’t have asked for a better team with Morgan and Reid. But the team had gotten bigger now. They had Rossi, an expert negotiator, Reid, a genius at only 27, Prentiss, a master in linguistics and terrorism, Jareau, an icon with the media and a sweetheart with the families and Bishop, specialised in trauma and children and Garcia, resident hacker. With that came responsibility. Their little family of 8 were specialists, easily relocated if the Director wished. He’d carried that responsibility of putting them to good use and he wondered whether he regretted giving it to Morgan. _We’ll see,_ Hotch decided before following.

* * *

Piper was sat cross-legged on a desk while Derek stood where Hotch usually did, delivering the profile, having the others step in when it came down to it. “We’re looking for a white male, 27 to 35. He is driving a van or a pickup truck with a removable cab. Something utilitarian that can get bloody and wash out easily. We believe that our unsub may have known his first victim,” Derek nodded to Piper. “Yet the rest were random.”

“Most enucleators have a mental disorder and are frenzied and sloppy when they attack,” Piper explained. “This one has more control since he lays in wait to kill his victims, he knows how to cut them so that they bleed out. This indicates he might have a hunting background.”

“That makes us believe he may also have applied for hunting licenses,” Hotch continued. “He has some sort of medical or surgical training but fell short of making a career out of it.”

“He is killing in different areas of the city in public places,” Spencer continued, limping over to the large map, using his crutch as a pointer. “His large kill zone could be related to some type of travel pattern in his life, which indicates a comfort with these neighbourhoods.”

“The escalation might be caused by a self-imposed timeline,” Rossi added. “He has to murder so many people, take these many eyes, to accomplish a task. He’s acting on a delusion that’s fuelling this murder spree.”

“A man named Herbert Mullin had a fear of a catastrophic earthquake hitting California,” Emily recounted. “Now, he believed that by killing people and offering their blood as a sacrifice to the earth, he could prevent an earthquake. He was a paranoid schizophrenic, and his delusion led him to kill 13 people.”

“He may have been in a halfway house or have been granted leave from a treatment facility,” Piper continued. “Maybe his family moved him away and now he’s back.”

“Our unsub kills at night, employs hunting tactics, and is patient,” Derek concluded. “He will wait until he can be alone with his victims.” While the detective dismissed the officers on duty to their roles, Derek moved to his office to answer Strauss’s call.

Piper waited in the cold night air for JJ to finish up her conference when she saw Spencer slowly walk over to her. “Emily’s grabbing her stuff, told me to wait outside.” Piper narrowed her eyes at the multitude of officers flooding out of the precinct.

“That’s probably why.” Piper chuckled. Spencer noticed the cheerful glint in her eyes. “How’s your leg?”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore. I just want to walk properly again.” Piper smiled sadly at him.

“I’m sorry.” Piper leaned carefully on her bike, looking mournfully at his crutches.

“For what?” He looked at her weary eyes.

“For not figuring it out sooner,” she sighed, running a hand through her hair. “You know, I keep reliving it and uh… I keep kicking myself for being that dumb.” Her voice was soft, out of earshot from anyone except Spencer.

“Pipes, you have nothing to be sorry about. I’m gonna be back to normal in no time, you’ll see.” Piper managed a small smile, breathing in deeply as JJ approached.

“Hey, you ready to go?” Piper nodded, hooking her leg around her bike before strapping on her helmet. JJ jumped on, giving Spencer a small wave before they sped off.

The next morning, Piper yawned as she accepted the coffee Emily held out. “‘Nother victim?” Piper blinked sleepily.

“What time did you wake up?”

“Like 20 minutes ago.” Piper yawned again before sipping her brown brain juice. “So, he killed two this time?”

“Yeah, Morgan and I are gonna go check it out.”

“We’re looking for a doctor who is also a hunter _and_ a former mental patient who happens to be cutting people’s eyes out. How the hell are we gonna find him?” Piper voiced irritably as Rossi strolled up next to her.

“Trust the profile. It’ll make sense.” Piper nodded, then moved over to a seat to peruse the files.

By the time the others had come back, Derek had made a major break with the case. Wes’s left eye was damaged during a struggle, so it was left behind while both of Sandy’s eyes were taken, prompting Derek to suggest they weren’t dealing with a doctor at all; it was a taxidermist.

Spencer nodded thoughtfully, explaining that a taxidermist has all the skills and supplies needed to preserve eyes and other body parts. That was when JJ marched in and placed her phone on the middle of the desk, putting Garcia on speaker. She explained that O’Heron had written a $250 check to Lloyd’s Wild Game Shop, the establishment whose owner had died of emphysema 4 weeks ago, leaving behind a 28-year-old son, Earl Bulford, with a criminal record and 3 counts of animal cruelty. There wasn’t any record of mental illness, she emphasised, but his mom suffered from retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease which eventually led to blindness and she died in a car crash when Bulford was 8.

Derek directed the team to move into position, with Piper and Emily taking the bike, Hotch and Rossi in one SUV and Derek and the detective in another. The three pairs converged on the same path and Piper took the front entrance with Derek and Emily. She winced from second-hand pain as Emily shoved an elbow in after Derek noticed a small pool of blood through the main window. Hotch and Rossi moved in from the back and slowly both units merged into the middle of the shop, clearing the establishment. Hotch found Bulford’s customer accounts and the detective pointed out how each customer lived in the same area as each victim they found. They divided again based on the last two victims, with Derek, Piper and Emily taking one address near Bleaker St while Hotch, Rossi and the detective took the other. 

Emily just gave Piper a disappointed look as she stepped down from the porch. Meanwhile, Hotch had found success, sort of, as the woman confusedly assented to having seen the unsub, but she wasn’t to know that. They split, calling all units to their area. The detective confirmed soon enough that they found the vehicle but not him. Hotch and Rossi decided to take the block by foot while the detective circled around in his car. While Rossi took the east side of the block, Hotch took the west and heard screams. He yelled for Rossi, but his colleague was too far away to hear. Cursing himself, he sprinted towards the scream, shooting at the sight of Bulford leaning over the girl, a metal contraption pulling her eyelids apart. Spooked, the man sprinted down the alley and Hotch leapt over the young woman to run after Earl, pulling him down from where he was about to climb up the wall. Hotch swiftly pinned the murderer to the floor before handcuffing him. Secured, Hotch moved over to Jaime, slowly and carefully pulling out the metal contraption safely. Relieved significantly, Hotch walked out of the alley to see a beaming Piper on her bike, helmet in hand. “I see you got him.” Aaron smiled back despite himself. “I don’t remember the last time you cuffed a guy.” Her smile dropped as Derek and Emily approached.

“Detective said you ran after him solo,” Derek said, no visible trace of pride, humour or joy on his face. Not even a smirk. Emily shrugged imperceptibly to Piper.

“He wasn’t far behind me,” Hotch justified.

“You know you should have waited for backup.”

“Would you have?” Aaron maintained eye contact until Derek walked away and the ladies smirked. “What?” Hotch looked between them.

“Nothing,” they cried in unison at their former boss, laughing once he was out of earshot at the irony of it all. Piper motioned for Emily to sit on the bike behind her before speeding down the sparse road to the precinct. They peeled out of their vests and headed back to the hotel to pack their things before Derek appeared, holding Bulford in tow. He dumped him next to an officer and moved over to JJ, asking if they could leave in about an hour.

Back at Quantico, the rest of the team hadn’t bothered going back into the building, opting to go straight home, except for Derek and Aaron. As Morgan finished the last of his paperwork before his second case tomorrow, Penelope strolled over to him. “You are here late,” she announced, a question embedded in the prompt.

“Reports. Hotch always stayed later than the rest of us, and now I understand why.” He glanced at the senior agent still in his cabin, working on who knows what.

“He doesn’t have to write them anymore. Why is he still here?”

“I don’t know. But I do know I need to get some rest. I got another case starting tomorrow.” Derek stood from his desk, packing his reports away into his briefcase.

“Um, I–before you go, can you help me get something out of storage?”

“Yes, baby girl.” His voice was sweet and smooth like caramel. “Anything for you.”

“Thank you.” Penelope beamed before taking him down the railed hallway past Rossi and Hotch’s cabins. She opened the door, letting him in before switching the lights on. “Voila!” Derek looked around at the vacated office.

“What are we doing in Hall’s office?”

“Um, it’s kind of not Hall’s office anymore,” Penelope grinned. “It’s your office.”

“What?” Derek looked at his best friend incredulously, a smile playing on his lips.

“JJ made some calls. Agent Hall’s retiring in a month, but he’s finishing his caseload at home. So, while you all were away, Mama set to work clearing out the rest of his boxes and setting up an uber office fit for our acting unit chief.” She swayed slightly on the spot, waiting for his reaction. His grin mirrored her own.

“Garcia, this is for real?”

“It’s kind of blah for my taste, but I figured you needed to keep up with agency standards. But…” She trailed off, moving over to the desk to open a secret drawer at the bottom. “I did make you your very own secret fun zone.” She playfully placed a light-up robot-dog on the desk, beaming giddily at Derek before passing him a framed photograph of the entire team for him. He remembered the moment captured on film. It was his 30th birthday a few months ago. He smiled as he gazed at his little family, Garcia planting a kiss on his cheek while he cut the cake while Spencer cheered. He rubbed his shoulder, remembering the dull pain of 25 punches and Piper’s sour expression when she was too tired to do the last 5. He smiled, remembering how Rossi had treated them all to drinks afterwards and how JJ kept pulling out Cheetos from absolutely nowhere. He pulled Garcia close, kissing the top of her head.

“Woman, you have lost your mind. But you are the best.”

“I completely agree. I will leave you alone to mark your territory.”

“Hey.” He stopped her before she walked out. “Thank you.” As she left, Derek sunk into his plush chair, relaxing and he gazed at his desk before pulling out his cell. He dialled a familiar number. “Listen, uh… Does that offer for a drink still stand?”


End file.
